The Los Angeles Lakers (8-4) travel to Smoothie King Center to face the New Orleans Pelicans (2-9) in this Friday night NBA matchup.

The Los Angeles Lakers are among the best teams in the Western Conference thus far in the 2025-26 NBA season, even without megastar LeBron James, who has missed the start of the campaign due to sciatica.

Wednesday night after slaying the Lakers, All-NBA wing Jalen Williams poked his head into ESPN's Malika Andrews' walk-off interview with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and jokingly reminded everyone that he was still in the NBA since he hasn't yet been on the court this season.

Austin Reaves' humor remains unmatched, as evidenced by his sardonic joke following the Lakers' win over the Pelicans.

New Orleans has truly been the "Big Easy" for Pelicans opponents this season. Our expert NBA predictions expect the Lakers to roll over New Orleans tonight.

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ESPN’s Dave McMenamin shares a key injury update on LeBron James as the Los Angeles Lakers inch closer to his return.

While Lakers fans met the decision with approval, the majority of coaches who had worked hard to earn that position must have been scratching their heads. Interestingly, in a recent interview with Zach Lowe, Chris Finch slipped in a subtle dig aimed at JJ.